Determinants of entrepreneurial alertness: towards sustainable agribusiness development

Abstract

PurposeEntrepreneurship is known to be important to the economy, and many scholars across the globe have researched it from a number of viewpoints. Currently, there is a need for an academic study to explore this area by combining sustainability value creating practices and the efforts of current entrepreneurs towards the said target, particularly in the case of the agricultural sector. While the entrepreneurship studies have mostly focused on the determinants of entrepreneurial opportunity recognition, few studies have attempted to analyze the factors influencing the entrepreneurial alertness (EA) of students, especially in relation to agricultural students. To fill this gap, this work investigated the impact of human and social capital on EA among the students of agricultural higher education in Iran.Design/methodology/approachThe sample consisted of 254 agricultural students in higher education from Ilam province in the Islamic Republic of Iran, selected by the stratified random sampling method for the study. Modeling of structural equations was used in inferential statistics.FindingsAccording to the results of the trial, human resources and social capital (SC) have been seen to have a strong, optimistic and measurable impact on EA. Key findings also show that human capital (HC) has an indirect, optimistic and important effect on EA through the mediator role of SC. Establishing higher education science teams, groups, networks and associations can foster opportunities to create and develop relationships and communication between agricultural students and entrepreneurs.Originality/valueThese findings illustrate the value of human and social resources in fostering entrepreneurship alertness among Iranian students of agricultural higher education. Considering the research results, the authors recommend some theoretical and realistic implications and suggestions for ways of promoting and increasing EA among farm students to encourage sustainable growth of agricultural careers in western Iran.

Exploring Open Data Affordances for Entrepreneurial Opportunity Recognition

“…The second facilitating condition is start-up readiness. Opportunity recognition literature emphasises entrepreneur readiness to capture a business prospect (Bilal et al, 2022;Ruiz-Palomino & Martínez-Cañas, 2021;Shiri et al, 2022). Likewise, the research findings support the notion that start-up readiness is critical in identifying a business opportunity.…”

Sustainable Entrepreneurship Education: A Systematic Bibliometric Literature Review

“…Fourth, to support those behaviors, innovation is needed in terms of new methods related to online and offline education, which can be achieved through new sustainable solutions for faculty and students in the markets and the presentation of innovative combinations of digital artifacts and infrastructures [51]. Innovative combinations related to accounting and sustainability, for instance, can also be achieved to bring about sustainable change both in business and in academia [44,52]. For example, improving owner/manager education and training would impact the integration of accounting practices in an innovative and sustainable strategy for SMEs, along with technology adoption [8,53].…”

Sustainable Entrepreneurship Education: a Systematic Bibliometric Literature Review

“…Fourth, in order to support those behaviors, innovation is needed in terms of new methods related to online and offline education, which can be achieved through new sustainable solutions for faculty and students in the markets and through the presentation of innovative combinations of digital artifacts and infrastructures [50]. Innovative combinations related to accounting and sustainability, for instance, can also be achieved to bring about sustainable change both in business and academia [44,51]. For example, improving owner/manager education and training would impact the integration of accounting practices in an innovative and sustainable strategy for SMEs, along with technology adoption [8,52].…”